A winner never likes "moral victories". But if there was such thing as one it was yesterday's 106-104 loss to the Knicks. The Celtics were thoroughly outplayed in the first half, but came back and dominated the second.

If Paul Pierce is in that game the Celtics win and I don't think anyone can dispute that. Regardless of the questionable reffing in the end, if you don't have your best closer on the court in the waning seconds of the game chances are you aren't going to win.

Here's the reality. It really doesn't matter about wins and losses during this first month. The Celtics need to concentrate on building team chemistry and seeing how their new additions fit in. Speaking of new additions,Big Baby who? Brandon Bass was a flat out man child yesterday. Yes, it is just one game, but I can't remember the last time we had someone crash the offensive glass like that. Not even Perk came close to what Bass displayed on Christmas Day. If Bass performs likes he did yesterday consistently we will be a force to be reckoned with. My thoughts on Rondo after the jump.
What I saw yesterday was that Rajon Rondo has gotten even better than last year. His shot looks better. More importantly, he hit his free throws(9-12). He dominated this game in every facet and continues to show why even though he may not be the best point guard in this league, he certainly is the most unique. I take back my previous statements about Chris Paul. For this team there is no point guard I'd rather have on my team than Rajon Rondo.

I think this is just the beginning for Rondo. Despite what some people think, I believe the trade rumors have fueled him to become a better player than ever. Despite Carmelo's performance yesterday, Rondo was the best player on the floor. He is a one man fast break and sees the floor as well as any point guard in the league. If he can continue to hit that open jumper and shoot 70% or above from the line he will be virtually unguardable. The NBA should be prepare to be Rondo'd nightly.

13 Responses so far.

Rondo was very very very good. in my opinion he needs to shoot the ball more this year, just go out and shoot with confidence!if he can continue to play like this, !WOW!best pg in the nba since stockton and magic, he is a real general!

In my -virtual now- article, I wanted to explain how this game has completely made me a 100% believer of Rondo as the present and future star of this team. I thought a trade for Chris Paul would have been good for us now and for the future but now I realize that Rondo IS and SHOULD BE the face of the franchise and without any doubt. So among others, Rondo proved me wrong last night.

What we saw last night was a monster performance by Shorty Rondo, he almost wins the game for us when it looked as if the Knicks would sweep us. He was aggressive and efficient.

Rondo has even improved his game (his shooting has improved dramatically) and he is mentally stronger than ever.

rondo shined in a way that players usually only shine in the playoffs. he did everything very well, and most importantly displayed confidence in his jumper. whether or not it went in, he took it in rhythm and it looked nice. if he can continue to exude confidence that says 'i can beat you anywhere,' well, he's going to beat everyone, everywhere. the only thing that i noticed that had me a bit worried when it came to rondo's excellent play yesterday was just how hard he had to work for that performance. he hit the deck nearly every time he touched the ball, putting his body through hell. i have to wonder if that's what he's going to have to do to put up 30+ points, WHEN will he injure himself?

bass was an absolute beast in that game. if we can expect anything like that on a day to day basis, that's more than we've gotten out of any forward (even KG at some points) in years. what a great addition. with pietrus on the 2nd unit to pick up some slack and keep the scoring going, and of the course the captain back at the helm, i have no doubt that the boston celtics can be a serious contender this year. especially if they can avoid the injury bug.

Rondo was incredible and Bass was off the charts. Even in the preseason you could see that the Celtics stole Bass off the Magic, he is muscular, young (26) and extremely tenacious on all aspects on the floor, Baby could only dream of doing what Bass could do with his eyes closed

Knicks barely beat us even without Pierce or Pietrus and still had to cheat and get the refs on their side at the end

Most funny and weird thing i just realized was how quickly the interview with Melo was and how fast they bolted the arena, it was as if they was trying to hide something and get the hell outta dodge

Loved Rondo's aggressiveness and his confidence in shooting the open jumper. Hope his 9-12 from the FT line continues. He won't be getting all those layups against most teams. He could go by Douglas at will with only one player (Chandler) protecting the paint and rim. That is one undisciplined defensive team.

I don't think KG will be playing 37 minutes every night, but after the way Bass played it would be good to start him at pf with KG playing c when the matchups work especially until Paul can play regular minutes.

Rondo should drop 45points & 12dimes against Miami 2morrow with a Win. Rondo needs to be more aggressive this season with his scoring he should be in the MVP Category this season by averaging 23points,11dimes, & 5boards a game thats more then Nash average when he got MVP twice. Ray Allen also needs to be aggressive against Wade. Last year in the Playoffs Wade made Allen look bad by crossing him and hitting almost every jumper on Allen. This season Ray should average 24points against Miami and make Wade look bad.

Great game yesterday showed how strong and how much of a threat Boston really is close game with out the truth or pietrus to lock down Anthony me personally a lineup to go against the heatless should be rondo pietrus pierce bass and Garnett to me but yesterday was some questionable calls but hey we was in new York tho we will meet again and the game will not b even close

I've been a fan of Rondo from the start. He such a fun and interesting players to watch. He's had to earn his respect as opposed to those who get their ass kissed before they've even stepped onto a court. Chuck and the boys from TNT gave him mad love yesterday. That was nice to hear. BOSTON LOVES THEIR PG MR.AINGE! And welcome Brandon Bass!!!

I believe Boston is actually a better team than New York. We forget that we should have Pierce, Green and Pietrus on the court. If we were healthy right now, I would even put us right up there with Chicago and Miami. But the most impressive part has to be Bass. He had 20 points and 11 reb off the bench! I like our chances if we can stay healthy. A 10 man wave between Rondo, Allen, Pierce, KG, JO, Bass, Wilcox, Pietrus, Marquis and Dooling isn't exactly to be made fun of. Add Green to the mix, and this is a dangerous basketball team.